Dental light



March 4, 1952 POHANKA 2,588,288

DENTAL LIGHT Filed Feb. 24, 1948 Patented Mar. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4: Claims. I My invention is directed to a very small illuminating device or light adapted to be mounted adjacent the head piece of a dental contra-angle drilling device and to the novel structural fea- H tures thereof and to the combination of structural features for mounting said light upon and along the head of the drilling device so as to illuminate the working area of the drill and at the same time present no interference or obstruction to normal drilling and viewing by the dentist of the area being worked upon.

It is an important object of my invention to provide an illumination light of a size so small and so compact that it may be easily mounted on the normally lower side of the grippable hand piece of a dentists contra-angle to thereby avoid interference with proper gripping and holding of the drill unit and to thereby avoid obstructing the dentists view of the cavity or other part be-- ing drilled, and so that the area worked upon can be maintained satisfactorily illuminated thereby permitting the dentist to continuously and clearly watch the progress of drilling as Well as to watch the location, angle and position of the drill, all without the need for intermittent withdrawal of the drill and head piece from the patients mouth.

In the practice of dentistry, the steps of drilling cavities in teeth preliminary to, filling them are exceedingly unpleasant both from the standpoint of the dentist and the patient. A dentists skill and his ability to secure good-will depends in many instances on his ability to perform drilling and grinding operations with the least possible pain to the patient and with accuracy and skill so that fillings will have long endurance as well as be properly mounted in the shape and size of cavities best suited for the particular case.

A great deal of guess on the part of the dentist is the general rule in numerous instances as to whether or not he has drilled or ground correctly and skillfully and this has been due to his inability to see and watch the area worked upon during the drilling operations. The inability to see either a direct or mirror reflected image is due primarily to the poor light which is present, especially when operating on the posterior teeth and in other areas where the use of a contraangle is indicated. Attempts to periodically look at the reflection of the cavity upon which work is being performed, to check what is. being done is not satisfactory in most instances and is diificult because saliva runs into the cavity immediately upon withdrawal of the burr and such saliva obstructs and makes unclear the work performed.

Another unsatisfactory factor is that due to the pain encountered by the patient, the patient often delays the replacement of the drill which has been withdrawn to enable the dentist to check his-progress, depth of cavity, etc. Another 0bjectionable factor is that due to the dentists inability to see, the drill slips out of place, with great pain to the patient, as the dentist is often unable to hold a reflecting mirror in his other hand during drilling and frequently cannot as he has to hold the patients cheek or head.

These and other objectionable features are eliminated by my invention, which permits the dentist to see the area worked upon during drilling operation and to more accurately gauge his progress and to avoid errors and provides for performance of more skillful work. The comparison may be similar to a surgeon performing a part of an operation without light as compared with constant illumination and view during such operation.

Other and further important objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawing and numerals of reference thereon.

0n the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of my attachable dental light and means for holding same on a dental head piece.

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of the socket and attached parts taken on a longitudinal plane thereof.

Fig. 3 is a detailed sectional view taken on a plane indicated by line three of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the clamp or clip and taken on line four of Fig. l, the handle and shaft parts being omitted.

Fig. 5 is an elevation showing the actual size of the device.

Referring to the drawings, numeral l0 designates a centrally passaged grippable handle made of metal having an end portion l l to which the end of flexible cable 26 is attachable. A driven flexible shaft l2, only a fragment of which is shown in Fig. 1, is rotatable in the passage of handle Ill.

The forward end of the handle It! at point Ilia is removably mounted on a nipple (not shown) on the rear end of hand piece l3. Hand piece [3 extends to annular flangel3a, at which point its end portion is threadingly connected to an opening (not shown) of the casing M, which houses a rotatable chuck means for holding burrs in position and cooperating gear means (not shown) which transmits the power from the flexible shaft l2 to the chuck and burrs mounted therein. A burr I5, is illustrated as mounted in the casing wh ch has upper and lower threaded caps or plugs l5 and I1.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, numeral 18 designates a rounded metal shell or casing made of metal whose forward end extendsoutwardly to provide a supplementary holding means for the bulb 20 and to protect the bulb against damage or breakage by normal impacts. The main portion of casing 18 is internally threaded and provides a centrally passaged socket base or member 22 which is of conductive material and is internally threaded as shown in Fig. 2 to receive a threaded bulb.

The normally rear portion of socket member 22 has an integral externally threaded nipple 2i thereon.

Numeral 23 is a passaged screw plug or nipple of non-conductive material which has one end portion threaded so as to thread on nipple 2|. The opposite end of the passage of plug 23 is internally threaded and has removably mounted therein, for example by threading a passaged plug or end portion of a tube-like passaged metal terminal member or connector 24.

A section of conductive terminal wire 25 is mounted in the passage of plug 23 with its flattened or headed end disposed in the socket cavity as shown in Fig. 2 andwith its opposite end preferably extending into the connector or terminal 24, or if desired extending as far outward as desired (in the latter case to continue as part ofthe circuit wire 26 leading to the power source). I prefer to terminate and secure the 'wire segment within connector 24 and then secure the bare end of a circuit wire 2% in said connector, for example by pinching the terminal 30 end against the inserted bare end portion of the wire.

Numeral 3B designates a yieldable metal clamp or clip of substantially C shape which preferably 0 has an integral apertured car '29 as "shown iii- Fig. 4. Circuit wire 26 which isenclosed within a non-conductive covering, is threaded through ear 2%! of the clip 30 which is releasably clamped on the handle Iii at the desired point. More than one of such retaining clips may be 'so-mountcd O in spaced apart position.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a yieldable rounded metal clamp 28 is secured to casing I8, for example by welding or soldering, said clamp'is of greater length at one side thereof then at the the outer-end portion of the burr. Said'clampbfi 28 is flexible and may be manually pulled away from the hand piece when desired, for example when replacing the bulb or cleaning the hand piece and connected parts.

As indicated'in Fig. 1, a rounded outwardly 5 flaring reflector M is preferably mounted about the projecting end portion of the bulb 28 so as to reflect rays in the direction of the burr. The position of said reflector 3| may be adjusted and e Same may be mounted at or upon the for ward end portion of the casing 18. Such securance may be a snug frictional seat or equivalent securance.

'As before recited, one of the problems previously unsolvedis the'production of a safe, mac-" tical'light so small and yet sufficient in illuminating power so that the same will not be in the way when drilling inthe mouth and which will not obstruct the dentists view; which will not produce a glare lessening his vision, and wh'ich'will not interfere in any way with normaluse in the difficult positions in which dental drilling has 'to be'performed. My invention attains all'of these accomplishments in addition 'to those'here- 'inafter'recited, and onefactor of said accom- 4 plishments is the smallness of size of the entire lighting unit which is reproduced in actual size in Fig. 5 of my accompanying drawing.

One power means which I have found satisfactory is illustrated at the right of Fig. 1. This is represented by a transformer 32, two of whose terminals are connected by circuit wires 33 and plug 34 to the usual plug of normal building current. One of the opposite terminals of said transformer 32 is connected by a circuit wire 35 to a ground connection, and thefourth terminal of said transformer is connected by circuit wire 36 to a manually operable hand switch 31 of conventional type. One terminal of hand switch 31 has connected thereto the circuit wire 25 in the usual manner. The position of hand switch 31 may be varied in the circuit wire '26 as desired.

As many changes could be made in'the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of my invention, within the scope of the claims constructed without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In combination, in a minute lighting fixture for illuminating the work area adjacent the burr in a contra-angle casing having'a bent passaged conductive socket; said casing at one endther'eof providing a passaged, reduced and externally threaded nipple; a passaged non conductive member; mounted at one end thereof, about said nipple and having the other end thereof internally threaded; a conducting element rigidly mounted in the passage of said member and having one-end thereof disposed so as to engage a bulb; the other end of said conducting element terminating within the said member; a p'assaged plug threadingly and removably mounted in the last mentioned end of said member, the passage'of said plug being aligned with said conducting element'and into which passage the said conducting element extends; a circuit wire terminating nearanend of said plug and rigidly mounted in the passage of said plug removable contact with one end of said conducting element, and a clamp adapted to connect said device to a dental contra-angle;

2. In lighting device adapted to illuminate the area' adjacent the burr of a dentists co'ntraangle; an 'angularly bent socket'adapted-to receive a light bulb; a passaged non-conductive 'member connected about the rear of said socket; a passaged plug rigidly and'removably mounted in said member for securing 'a circuit wire in position; the passage in said plug being of "substantially the same diameter as the circuitwi're; a circuit wire terminating in the passage'of said member and removably extending into the passage of'said plug and having a terminal disposed in said socket, said terminal being adapted to be contacted by a part of a light bulb;' a second circuit wire rigidly mounted in said plug and abutting one end of said first mentioned circuit wire; a clamp on said socketadapted to be engaged on a contra-angle and a second attachable clamp adapted to hold a portion of-the second ple; a passaged plug in one end of said member; a wire rigidly mounted in said casing and said member and disposed in the passage of said plug and having a terminal in said socket; a circuit wire connected to said plug and extending rearwardly; releasable clip means on said casing adapted to mount said casing adjacent a hand piece of a dental drill device; and a clamp for holding the rear exposed and insulated portion of said circuit wire adjacent the hand piece.

4. In a lighting device adapted to illuminate the area adjacent the burr of a dentist's drill, a bent socket of conductive material; said socket having a reduced externally threaded nipple; a passaged non-conductive member threaded on said nipple; a metal terminal plug releasably mounted in one end of said member; a wire extending into said socket and terminating in said member and extending into said plug; a circuit wire having one end thereof rigidly connected to said plug and terminating within said plug and extending rearwardly and being releasably JOSEPH POHANKA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,272,700 Newcomb July 16, 1918 1,993,881 Grigg Mar. 12, 1935 2,038,911 Stutz et a1. Apr. 28, 1936 2,252,267 Lofgren Aug. 12, 1941 2,287,874 Gibbons June 30, 1942 2,303,121 Hartness Nov. 24, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 322,382 England Dec. 5, 1929 

